Desk telephone lifting device



4, 1947. c. M. CANDY DESK TELEPHONE LIF'IING DEVICE Nov.

Filed Nov. 14, 1945' INVENTOR. CHARLES M. CANDY ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 4, 1947 Charles M. Candy, Chic 'matic Electric Lahore.

ago, 111., ass'ignor to Autotories, Inc., Chicago, 111.,

a corporation of Delaware i spplication November 14, 194-5, serial No. 628,558

8 Claims. 1

The present invention relates in general .to telephone sets but .more particularly to an .improved desk telephoneof .the cradle type.

The object of the invention is to improve the construction of desk telephone lifting devices of the types shown and claimed in Patent .No. 2,244,918, issued May .9, .1938, to .H. Obergfell; and Patent No. 2,096,045, issued .March .27., .1935, to J, J. Kuhn .et al.

These prior lifting devices provide .a veryeonvenient means ,for moving a desk .telephoneset about since the telephone 'handsetand the .desk set are .both'firmly'held'between .the palm of the hand and the finger tips, thereby preventing .the handset from being jarred fromits cradle support during movement .of the desk set. .At the same time the advantage of having the lifting device located approximately over 'the center of gravity of the desk set is obtained, which avoids any tendency of the desk set to tip when lifted. The main object of the present 'inventioniis'to improve the construction of these earlier lifting devices by providing an opening in the center portion thereoi'whereby'one finger may be extended completely under the handset prior to removal'thereof from the cradle to facilitate firm grasping of the handset.

lhe utility-of'the inventi'onmay best .be appreelated from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing comprising Figs. "1 to 6, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the desk telephone set with the handset removed from :the cradle;

Fig. 2 is a top view of a combined imounting block and lifting plate;

Fig. 3 is a side view of the lifting plate, as seen from the left of Fig. 2;

Fi 4 is another side view of the liftingplate, as seen from the right of Fig. 2,;

Fig. 5 is a rear view of the liftingplateas seen from the bottomof Fig. 2; and

Fig. 6 is a'bottoin view of the lifting plate, as seen from the bottom of Fig.5.

Referring'now in general to the drawings-the casing Iii of the desk telephone "is formed in one piece of some suitable plastic insulating compound and has a general shape roughly corresponding to a truncated pyramid thereby enabling ease in moulding. The base portion of the casing comprises ten sides or skirts H which extend substantially vertical for a short distance at which point the front, rear, and side surfaces slope inwardly. The two side surfaces 12 and i3 slope upwardly and inwardly from the skirt side-portion only a short distance at which point both the side surfaces extend substantially vertical. The front surface I l slopes upwardly and inwardly at an angle of substantially 40 degrees until it is rounded in a substantially horizontal top portion [5 which extends .a short distance to the rear where it merges into the rear surface it. Ihe rear surface It, extending from the rear skirts i l to where it merges with the top portion 15, slopes upwardly and inwardly. The slope of the rear surface 16 is a perfect arc of a circle having substantially a nine inch radius. The two side surfaces form side walls IT and 18 which extend from the top portion it near the front to the rear skirts H, thereby forming a channel comprising the two inside surfaces l9 and 20 of the side walls and the curved rear surface 16. Each side wall at its highest point terminates ina pair of spaced pillars 2|. The space between these pillars forming a cradle for the well-known combination transmitter and receiver handset.

A plunger 22 is movably mounted in the space between the two pillars in each side wall. These plungers are provided for operating the switchhook springs (not shown) whenever the handset is removed or replaced on the cradle,

A base plate 23 having a rubber ring 26 is secured to the bottom of the cover .by means of screws which screw into threaded inserts in the cover.

The channel formed by the curved rear surface It and the inside surfaces I9 and .25! of the two side walls l1 and I8 starts at the rear and gradually deepens. Its greatest depth being in a vertical plane passing through the two rear pillars 2| in the side walls. Due to the depth of the channel at least one finger can be used to firmly grasp the underside of a handset (not shown) resting on the ,plungers 22 .in the cradle between the pillarsZl and side walls I! and I8.

Mounting blocks 32 are provided between each pair of pillars 2| in the side walls H and I8. These mounting blocks 32 form the top surface of the cradle which supports the telephonehandset and are provided with threaded screw holes 36 into which machine screws extend from within the casing to hold the mounting blocksin place.

A hole 31 is provided in each mounting block 32 for the plungers 22 which operate the cradle switchhook springs (not shown).

Due to the general shape of the casing 18, which is provided with smooth sloping sides, the desk set is not easily picked up and moved from place to place because no suitable finger or hand grip is available. In order to provide means for easily lifting and moving the desk set from place to place each of the mounting blocks 32 is provided with an inwardly extending wing 33. The tips of the two wings are separated by a distance somewhat greater than a fingers width. The width of the channel between the two side walls I! and I8 is sufiicient to readily accommodate three fingers. The middle one of three fingers inserted in the channel may be used to grip the handset or the outer two fingers may be used to lift the desk set by means of the lifting wings 33. A rounded ridge is formed at the bottom of the innermost edge of each wing and the bottom surfaces of the wings slope upwardly toward the front of the desk set to aid in obtaining a firm hold thereon. The forward portions of the wings 33 are formed in an arcuate shape to provide clearance, between the forward edges of the wings and the sloping surface 1-6 of the casing, for the telephone cord which may be allowed to fall between the sidewalls when the handset is replaced on its cradle. The cord is thus prevented from interfering with proper operation of the plungers Or with proper grasping f the handset by a subscriber.

Only the right hand one of the combined mounting blocks and lifting wings has been shown in Figs. 2 to 6. It should be apparent that the left hand member is a mirror reflection of the right hand member shown.

Having described the invention, what is considered novel is pointed out in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a desk telephone, a casing formed in one piece comprising side walls each having a pair of spaced pillars forming the telephone handset supports, a rear inwardly and upwardly sloping sur face extending between said side walls and merging into a top surface, said rear surface and side walls defining a channel into which three fingers may be thrust to lift the handset or the desk set, and a wing extending from each of said side walls between said pair of spaced pillars into said channel, the innermost ends of said wings being separated by at least a fingers width, whereby the middle finger may be used to grip the underside of the handset between said wings to raise it, or the outer fingers may be used to lift the desk set by means of said wings.

2. In a desk telephone, a molded casing comprising side walls each having a pair of spaced pillars forming the telephone handset supports, a rear inwardly and upwardly sloping surface extending between said side walls and merging into a top surface, said rear surface and side walls defining a channel into which several fingers may be thrust to lift the handset or the desk set, a wing extending from each of said side walls between said pair of spaced pillars into said channel, the innermost edges of said wings being separated by at least a fingers width whereby one finger may be extended under the handset between said wings to raise it, or two fingers may be extended beneath said wings to lift the desk set, the bottom surfaces of said wings sloping upwardly towards the front of the desk set and having 4 a rounded ridge formed along the innermost edges thereof to aid in obtaining a firm grip thereon.

3. In a desk telephone, a casing having spaced side walls, each side wall having a pair of spaced pillars at its upper extremity forming the cradle support for the telephone handset, a mounting block positioned between each pair of pillars forming the base portion of the cradle support, a wing extending from each of said mounting blocks between said spaced pillars into the space between said side walls, the innermost edges of said wings being separated by at least a fingers width whereby one finger may be extended beneath the telephone handset between said wings to raise it from the cradle support, or one finger may be extended beneath each of the wings to lift the desk set.

4. In a desk telephone, a molded casing comprising side walls each having a pair of spaced pillars forming the cradle support for the telephone handset, a rear inwardly and upwardly sloping surface extending between said side walls and merging into a top surface along a line extending between the front pillars of the side walls, a mounting block positioned between each pair of pillars forming the base portion of the cradle support, said rear surface and side walls defining a channel into which three fingers may be thrust to lift the handset or the desk set, and a wing extending from each of said mounting blocks between said pair of spaced pillars into said channel slightly below the bottom surface of the cradle support, the innermost edges of said wings being separated by at least a fingers width, whereby the middle finger may be used to grip the underside of the handset between said wings to raise it from the cradle support, or the outer fingers may be used to lift the desk set by means of said wings. I

5. A desk telephone as claimed in claim 4 wherein the front edges of said wings are arcuate in shape to provide clearance for the telephone cord between the wings and the rear surface at the point where it merges into the top surface, and the bottom surfaces of each of said wings slope upwardly towards the front of the desk set and have a rounded ridge formed along their innermost edges to aid in obtaining a firm grip thereon.

6. In a desk telephone, a pedestal having a cradle portion for supporting the telephone handset, a fingers receiving recess in said pedestal beneath the center of the cradle portion, a lifting wing extending from the pedestal over a portion of the top of said recess and an open portion over the remaining portion of the top of said recess, whereby one or more fingers may be thrust into said recess beneath the covered portion thereof to lift the pedestal by means of said wing, or beneath the open portion thereof to grip the underside of the telephone handset to raise it from the cradle.

'7. In a desk telephone, a pedestal having a cradle portion for supporting the telephone handset, a fingers receiving recess in said pedestal beneath the center of the cradle portion, lifting means extending over portions of the top of said recess to permit lifting of the pedestal, said lifting means having a cut out portion to permit at least one finger to be extended beneath the underside of the telephone handset to obtain a firm grip thereon prior to raising it from the cradle.

8. In a desk telephone, a pedestal having a cradle portion for supporting the telephone hand- 5 6 set, a fingers receiving recess in said pedestal beneath the center of the cradle portion, and a CES CI D pair of lifting wings each extending over a portion of the top of said recess on either side thereof, the adjacent edges of said lifting wings 5 The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

being separated by at least a fingers width, UNITED STATES PATENTS whereby one finger may he thrust into said recess N mb r Nam Date to grip the underside of the telephone handset 2,09 ,04 Kuhn t a1 001;, 19, 1937 between said lifting wings to raise the handset 2,244,913 Obergfell June 10, 1941 from the cradle, or two fingers may be thrust into 19 2,398,350 Obergfell Apr. 23, 1946 said recess to grip the undersides of said lifting wings to lift the pedestal.

CHARLES M. CANDY. 

